www.broadwayworld.com: It is 7:04pm on a Thursday. To the average audience member of THE COLOR PURPLE, the most important person waiting backstage is one of the above-the-title stars (Cynthia Erivo, Jennifer Holliday or Danielle Brooks). But those in the industry know that, at this particular moment, the most important person is a woman sitting stage right in front of three monitors. That woman, with a headset on and binder in front of her, is Stage Manager Sharika Niles.
10 comments:
I absolutely adored this article! For so many years I have struggled to explain what I did and why I was slowly going mad to teachers, friend and family. I wish after all those years that I would have had an arsenal of this article printed and stapled to hand to unknowing bystanders. The importance of this article is so important to the theatre world and the mass audience that views theatre every years. When crowds walk in to see Broadway shows they mostly know what all the designers do and the producers and other well known production titles, but few know the man or woman behind the title stage manager. I believe the education of these people about the job of stage managing is very important to the future of theatre. This article is one magnificent step toward this future of the theatre world and I hope by reading it people can become more aware of what my job is and what I do as a stage manager.
This is a pretty comprehensive yet brief article describing what a stage manager does. It is the perfect thing to send to your family if you have been struggling to explain what you do and after trying to, why you do not receive as much notoriety as an actor even though you will likely belong to the same union. This is the second article in a week that I have seen on the role of the stage manager, which means that someone became curious and asked the question. I have to wonder if the discussion of different theatrical roles besides those of actor and director is branching out of the popularity of Hamilton or if there is some other factor at play. I do think it is important that non-theatrical people who enjoy theatre take the time to understand what all of the roles in the Playbill actually mean so that they fully comprehend what it takes to put on a show. I think this is particularly important once a show is at Broadway-scale but would greatly help the negative stereotypes of theatre artists at all levels.
The plane analogy is a good one for the job of a stage manager. It's hard to put into words the type of sensory assault that comes with stage managing, as you have various voices in your ears, monitors in front of you, and lights of all kinds in your periphery, as well as a script that you have to keep monitoring the entire time. Not unlike flying a plane, I imagine. I also think it's valuable that this article calls attention to safety being the number one priority for a manager, as I feel like people too often get caught up in everything being called perfectly, but if actors aren't clear, than things going dark can be potentially dangerous, and it's a necessary skill for a manager to know when to make those calls. Calling aside, the article is also a good one, as it goes in depth into what the stage manager does outside of shows running, such as scheduling, payroll, and rehearsal/performance reports. A regular audience member will have very little knowledge of the extent of the work of a stage manager, so articles like this go a long way towards giving credit to one of many unsung heroes of production. The value of knowing all of the roles of a production team is immense, since it leads to an interdisciplinary respect that most fields can only hope to attain.
Stage management is probably the most versatile degree when exiting a BFA program. To put it simply, they learn how to get shit done, and done well.
I agree with Jacob, the analogy to a plane is a good one. There are a million things going on and the stage manager has to figure it all out. Here at CMU and in most educational scenarios the SM and the PSM are combined and do a lot of paperwork themselves. On Broadway it seems different. I'm sure that has to do with the size of production, cast, crew, etc.
Walking into a theater it is so easy to become enthralled with everything that is going on in front of your eyes. Yes, theater can be magical and I sometimes forget that there is an organized chaos happening in the wings that is truly incredible. Though SM's chose a life behind the curtain I believe we need more articles acknowledging the work they do, and not just noticing when there is a mistake. Without stage managers we would live in a world of chaos.
I am glad that there are articles being written about what we as stage managers do, so that people who don’t know our job can get a better idea of what we do. Even though there are a lot more things we do it is a good start. I always enjoy reading these type of articles because it is cool to see quotes from broadway stage managers, of some of the most famous shows, and what they say about their job. Sometimes I get it into my head that those people are way too high on the totem pole that I will never reach that point but in actuality eventually I could work my way up and be like one of them. The things they say are so true and common among what we talk about here at CMU that it encourages me to keep working hard because I could work my way up there.
This article perfectly explains what a stage manager does. Although I'm probably going to go into scenic design, I've always had a high respect for the stage manager whenever I was any position working under them. I honestly don't think I could manage the stress that comes with calling cues, making an extremely precise plan, and leading the entire execution of a production--I always preferred being given the commands instead.
Another big challenge of the stage manager is knowing a little bit of every department to have a sense of what's going on. This is why I think CMU has a great program because everyone gets to do a little bit of everything and this especially benefits the stage managers (and production managers) when they have to look over every department. This is when it's important to have strong people skills alongside technical skills. Good stage managers, especially for shows running for long periods of time, keep the morale of the crew up and keep them going.
This article is great for people who are wondering what the hell you're doing in the management department of the CMU school of drama. It even goes over the different types of managers involved in a production, who's hired first, who does what. Finally, the plane analogy is a good one. Each show is a different, confusing plane and, as a stage manager, you have to learn how to fly each one.
I read this article earlier and I actually shared it because I thought it was important for people to know what it actually is that I do as a stage manager. This article is one of the best articles I have read that describes what the basic duties of a stage manager is on Broadway. It was really interesting to hear from a bunch of different stage managers on Broadway and how they view the job. It was really cool to see that even on Broadway after doing the show hundreds of times; they still do the same pre-checks everyday to make sure everything is working properly and in the right place. It also takes a lot of talent to be able to call cues verbally at the same time you are cuing people through cue lights with your fingers. It is kind of like flying a plane since there are a lot of different switches and commands you need to worry about when you are flying a plane. You also have to stay calm and focused to make sure everyone else can do what they are supposed to do.
This is an interesting article and covers a lot of details of the stage manager’s job. I appreciate the candid take to it and not sugar coating the job. It is a job that requires a lot of work and a lot of different skills. I’m impressed with the descriptions that the stage managers give of their jobs, especially when calling cues. It can be difficult to describe to someone exactly what a stage manager is doing when calling cue. Or trying to explain to my father why a stage manager is needed. I think he understands now. That being said, I’m glad that stage managers are getting recognition and that people are being exposed to exactly what goes into a stage manager’s job. Although the article does a good job at explaining a stage manager’s job during a show and some of the crisis they have to deal with, I’m not sure it explains how much work goes into rehearsal, but that might be another article.
This article was very interesting to read, and I think it should be read by all people who plan to pursue theatre in any shape form or fashion. The stage manager is a very important part in the show, I would almost argue the most important, because they have to know everything. They must be so well versed in all technical positions and acting directions to be able to communicate and make the show run as smoothly as possible. I did look up the Ham4Ham video and it was very fun to be able to hear the stage manager call it. He did not have one moment to pause and take a break. It is hard to think about how much the stage manager must do when you are simply watching the show. I did not realized before this video that he would have called the turn tables, let alone be as precise as he had to be about it. The calling of the musical number was truly something remarkable, and I appreciated that they decided to shine a light on that important position. Stage managers deserve way more recognition than they currently do. They are the glue that binds the show together.
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